A Hoenn Adventure
by Warrior of Hope
Summary: Will Knight has finally turned 15, and is allowed to begin his adventure across the Hoenn region with his best friend, Lily Davis. They will journey across Hoenn meeting new friends and making dangerous enemies. Please read and review!
1. A Brand New Journey

**A Hoenn Adventure**

**Disclaimer- I do not and will never own Pokemon unfortunately**

**Author's Note**

**Thanks for giving this story a chance. This is my first fanfiction so far, and I plan to update whenever I can. In this story there will be mostly OC's. I have some characters already, but I will use OC's you all will hopefully send in.**

**My main characters, Will Knight and Lily Davis will look like May and Brendan from Emerald. They will be 15 at the start of their journey, because I believe 10 is quite young for an adventure on your own. Trainers will be able to catch rare Pokemon sooner than after his/her last gym battle. (Example- In Hoenn you can't catch a Bagon until you have the HM Waterfall, but in this fic characters could find one living near Mt. Chimney.) Anyways, on with the story!**

* * *

A Brand New Journey

In the wonderfully, dull area of Littleroot Town one 14 year-old boy named Will Knight could not sleep. The next day would be his 15 birthday, and he would get to select his first Pokemon from the Hoenn region's Pokemon expert, Professor Birch. He is still unsure about which of the Pokemon to choose. Will knows his choices are between Torchic, Mudkip, and Treecko. All of these Pokemon are great choices for a new trainer like Will, but he cannot decide which Pokemon he would like to have as his very first Pokemon. The fire type Pokemon, Torchic, would eventually evolve into the mighty Blaziken, Mudkip would eventually become the powerful Swampert, and Treecko would become the speedy Sceptile. He could picture himself with any of these powerful Pokemon.

In the house next to the Knights' house lived Will's childhood best friend, Lily Davis. They have been friends ever since Lily moved to Littleroot Town 10 years ago. Lily is already 15, as her birthday is two weeks before Will's. Lily and Will planned to go on their journeys together, so she has waited for Will to have his 15th birthday. She already has her own first Pokemon, though, a Pichu from her parents. While Will has thought of nothing more than to challenge the Hoenn League, Lily hopes to compete in the Hoenn Grand Festival.

* * *

When Will awoke the next morning, prepared for his journey, and said good bye to his parents until after he hopefully won the Hoenn League. It was an emotional farewell for Will as this would be the first time he is without his parents for many months. He knew he would be traveling with Lily, but understood that he would still miss his parents for a while.

He noticed Lily standing outside Birch's lab with her backpack filled with supplies and Pikoo, her Pichu, dancing around her legs.

"Good morning Will" Lily greeted smiling warmly.

"Pi Pichu" Pikoo said as she waved.

"Good morning Lily and Pikoo, are you ready for our adventure to start?" Will asked. She smiled at him..

"Definitely! Lily said without the slightest hesitation. "Are you?"

"It will be different traveling instead of living here in Littleroot Town, but it will be fun!" Will responded.

"Well let's go talk to the professor then." Lily said while walking towards the door to the lab. When she arrived at the door she realized it was locked. "Where is the professor?" she wondered.

"Could he be on Route 101 studying Pokemon?" Will asked knowing Birch is one of the few Pokemon researchers willing to study Pokemon in the field with the chance of getting attacked by wild Pokemon.

"Possibly, but lets check to be safe." Lily answered.

They walked towards Route 101 looking for a sign that Professor Birch is in the area. After walking for almost 45 minutes searching for him without succes, Lily started to get worried.

"Should we split up? We would have a better chance of finding him that way." Lily suggested.

"That is a good idea." Will said "You and Pikoo travel west, and I will go north farther. In another hour if neither of us can find him we will meet back at his lab in case we missed him."

"Okay, but be careful. You don't have your own Pokemon yet." Lily warned. After she warned Will she went west searching for the professor.

Will walked for another 30 minutes without success. He started to think Birch may have passed them earlier, and they never noticed. Just when he decided to turn towards home Will heard a growl. He turned in the direction of the sound, and noticed a Poochyena growling upwards towards a large tree. The Poochyena had a scar along his right eye. It shocked Will that something did this to the Poochyena. Will saw someone in the tree that surprised him more though. It was Professor Birch!

"Professor! How did you get trapped in that tree?" Will asked as the Poochyena started to growl at him for getting closer to the tree.

"I was studying this tree's Wurmple to see if I could find why some evolve into Cascoon and others into Silcoon when I dropped my bag on this Poochyena's head from up here. Needless to say it got angry, and here we are." Birch explained.

"What can I do to help?" Will asked.

"If you can get to my bag without walking too close to the Poochyena it should not try to attack you. Then you can choose one of the Pokeballs inside it to scare off this Poochyena." Birch said. "Just be sure to not get too close to the Poochyena, and you should be safe."

As Will walked closer to the tree he noticed the professor was right. The Poochyena was more interested in Birch, and did not seem to notice Will walking closer towards it to grab the bag. When he got to the bag and opened it, Will saw three Pokeballs inside.

'These surely hold Treecko, Torchic, and Mudkip!' Will thought while grabbing one of the Pokeballs at random.

"Go Pokemon!" Will shouted, grabbing the attention of the Poochyena as the small chick Pokemon, Torchic, appeared.

"Wow! A Torchic!" Will cried. "Go Torchic! Use scratch!" Torchic ran up to the Poochyena, and started scratching it with the the small claws on its feet. The Poochyena retaliated with tackle, shoving Torchic into the tree Birch was trapped in.

"Fight back with scratch Torchic!" Will shouted. Torchic ran towards the Poochyena as it started to howl.

"Watch out Will" Birch warned, "Howl will raise Poochyena's attack stat."

"Scratch it Torchic!" Will shouted. Poochyena finally fled after being hit by Torchic's scratch attack.

"Great job Will!" Birch told Will as climbed down the tree. "That was great for your first battle ever, and it seems Torchic really likes you. How about we go back to my lab in Littleroot Town?"

"That sounds good professor." Will replied.

* * *

When Will and Birch returned to the lab, Will noticed Lily waiting by the door with Pikoo in her arms. She looked angry, and started walking towards Will.

"Where have you been!? We agreed to be back here in an hour! It has been 2 hours since we split up!" Lily roared angrily.

"I apologize for Will, Lily. It was my fault we returned late. He was helping me, because I was attacked by a Poochyena." Birch told Lily calmly.

"Oh I'm sorry for losing my temper. I was worried you got lost, too, Will." Lily said.

"It's no problem, and besides I want you to meet my new friend. Go Torchic!" Will shouted.

"Wow! You chose Torchic? Are you going to give him a nickname? Lily asked Will while looking at his new Torchic.

"I think I'm going to name you Pyro. Do you like the name buddy?" Will asked his first Pokemon.

"Tor Tor" Torchic said while happily dancing around Will's legs.

"Then I guess your name is now Pyro." Will said happily.

"Lily would you like to have one of the two remaining starter Pokemon?" Birch asked Lily.

"Yes please. Could I have Mudkip?" Lily requested.

"Sure! Here is his Pokeball." Birch replied handing her Mudkip's Pokeball.

"Go Mudkip!" Lily announced as Mudkip appeared at her feet. "Pikoo say hello to Mudkip."

"Pi Pichu" Pikoo said as she and Mudkip started to play tag.

"Looks like your Pichu likes Mudkip, too, Lily" Birch observed "Would you like to give him a nickname, too?" Lily thought for a few seconds, and then picked up Mudkip.

"Do you like the name Kip?" she asked her newest Pokemon.

"Mud Mudkip." Mudkip said while bouncing excitedly in Lily's arms.

"Then I will name you Kip!" Lily told the excited Mudkip.

"That is another excellent name." Birch told Lily while looking at Pyro and Kip playing with Pikoo.

"I'm guessing you both plan to travel to Oldale Town still this afternoon?" Birch asked. Lily and Will looked at each other for a moment. They had forgotten after all the excitement the morning brought that it was still only 1:30 in the afternoon!

"I believe so professor." Will replied.

"That's good. It seems you both are very eager, new Pokemon trainers, and I wish to give you a few more gifts before you depart." Birch said as he started to walk inside the lab. When they reached Birch's office Will noticed there were two PokeDexes on his desk.

"You are giving us PokeDexes!?" Will cried in delight.

"Yes, I am along with 5 Pokeballs for each of you." Birch answered.

"Thank you so much professor!" Lily thanked excitedly. Both Will and Lily grabbed a PokeDex and 5 Pokeballs, and then shook Birch's hand.

"Thanks for all you have given us, Professor Birch. I will never be able to repay you for giving me my own Pokemon." Will told Birch. Birch chuckled a bit.

"How about for payment you make sure you win all 8 gym badges, and try your hardest at the Hoenn League." Birch said.

"Of course. When I come home I will be the champion of the Hoenn region!" Will announced.

* * *

Lily and Will both left Littleroot Town and walked toward Route 101 both thinking of what they will do on their adventure together. Will is imagining winning the Hoenn League, and Lily is imagining winning the Ribbon Cup. Neither of them notice a small Pokemon following them.

After walking for 3 hours they stopped, and decided to eat dinner. Pyro made a small fire with the fallen branches and twigs gathered by Pikoo and Kip, Will cut up some vegetables for soup, and Lily added in the ingredients. After half an hour of simmering the soup was ready, and Will poured Pokemon food out for Pyro, Kip, and Pikoo.

"How much longer do you think we will be walking until we reach Oldale Town?" Lily asked Will as he was eating his soup.

"If we walk for another hour or two we should be there sometime tomorrow afternoon. Route 101 is not very long." Will answered looking at the PokeNav his father had given him for his 14th birthday.

"Cool! Could you look up where the first contest hall is?" Lily asked hoping it was close.

"It is in Rustboro City along with my first gym battle! I can't wait until we get there!" Will cried.

After they finished cleaning up their dinner they walked for another hour, and decided to set up camp for the night. Will set up tents, and Lily played with their Pokemon. Both Will and Lily could not wait until they got to Rustboro City. Each had different reasons, but both could not wait.

"Lily I'm going to go train with Pyro for our gym battle." Will told Lily.

"That's fine I may go practice for my contest with Pikoo and Kip." Lily said in response.

Will walked along a little further searching for Pokemon Pyro could battle. He saw a few Wurmple, but passed them hoping to find something a little more challenging. After 15 minutes of walking without seeing anything but Wurmple he decided to battle one.

"Go Pyro!" Will announced. "Use scratch!" Pyro rushed towards the nearest Wurmple, and scratched it with the claws on his feet. Retaliating, the Wurmple shot a string shot at Pyro, but missed by only a few inches.

"Use scratch!" Will cried. Pyro scratched the Wurmple until it could not take anymore, and fainted. Will ran towards Pyro ecstatic that he beat the Wurmple, and gave him a hug.

"Great job, Pyro!" Will told the fire chick. Just as they were going to look for more Wurmple to battle a Poochyena pounced at Will.

"Use scratch!" Will said as the Poochyena was in the air. Instead of using scratch, though, Pyro shot small balls of fire at the Poochyena.

"Wow! Ember! You must have leveled up earlier, Pyro!" Will exclaimed. Will began to wonder why this Poochyena would suddenly attack them as the Poochyena was shot back to the ground by Pyro's ember. Then Will noticed a scar on the Poochyena's eye. This was the same Poochyena that attacked Birch! The Poochyena rammed Pyro into a tree with his tackle attack.

"Pyro use scratch!" Will ordered. Pyro ran at Poochyena, and scratched it until it could no longer stand. Will remembered he now has Pokeballs, and he could catch Poochyena!

"Go Pokeball!" Will cried as he threw a Pokeball at the fainted Poochyena. The Pokeball shook three times before catching the Pokemon. Will quickly ran to the Pokeball and announced, "I just caught my first Pokemon!"

After the excitement of the battle and capture, Will walked back to his and Lily's camp site. When he returned he noticed Lily sitting by the fire watching Kip and Pikoo run around the camp.

"I'm back," Will announced "And I caught a Poochyena! I'm naming him Pup."

"That's awesome!" Lily told her friend happy he caught his own Pokemon. After another 10 minutes both Lily and Will went to their tents to sleep. That night Will dreamt about winning the Hoenn League, and he pictured himself standing next to his new partner and best friend: Pyro, his Blaziken.

**AN**

**I hope you liked the story so far, and if you wish to send in an OC the form is on my profile. The first OC I need is a rival for Will that I hope to introduce in the next chapter, so if you have an idea for one please let me know.**

**Warrior of Hope**


	2. The First Victory

A Hoenn Adventure

**Disclaimer-I do not own Pokemon**

**Author's Note**

**I would like to thank ****That one Mudkip** **and ****Typhlosion8** **for beta-reading my story. I would also like to thank ****SpartaLazor** **for reviewing, and giving me great feedback. They have given great suggestions, and ways to improve my story. **

**Even though I'm making this a story about the Hoenn region, I will still have Pokemon from other regions in it. For example, Norman could have normal type Pokemon from any region. I will use mostly Hoenn Pokemon, but there will still be exceptions.**

**In this story Pokemon won't evolve exactly when they reach a certain level, nor will they learn attacks exactly when they do in the games. On with the story!**

**(M)= Male(F)=Female** **(G)=Genderless **

**Will's Team**

**1. (M) Torchic (Pyro)-Lv. 7**

**Attacks- Scratch, Growl, Ember**

**2. (M) Poochyena (Pup)- Lv. 5**

**Attacks- Tackle, Howl**

**Lily's Team**

**1. (F) Pichu (Pikoo)- Lv. 9**

**Attacks- Thundershock, Charm**

**2. (M) Mudkip (Kip)- Lv. 6**

**Attacks- Tackle, Growl, Mud Slap**

**The First Victory**

When Will and Lily awoke the next morning, they started traveling towards Oldale Town again. Along Route 101 they found groups of Wurmple crawling along tree branches, Poochyena running along the road, and Zigzagoon eating berries.

"Look at all of these Pokemon!" Will exclaimed. "I have never seen more Pokemon at one time in my entire life!" He was extremely happy to be traveling around the Hoenn region. He had always loved Pokemon, and before today had never seen so many in one spot.

"There are definitely a lot of Pokemon out here." Lily agreed. Unlike Will, who had lived in Littleroot Town all of his life, Lily was originally from Lilycove City, and moved to Littleroot Town when she was 5. She had seen many Pokemon while moving.

"How much farther until we arrive in Oldale Town?" Lily asked Will eager to get one step closer to the Rustboro Contest.

"We are about another 2 hours away from Oldale Town still." Will answered beginning to sound impatient, because this was the third time this morning she asked. Hearing Will begin to sound impatient with her questions, she decided to walk in silence for a while since Will is a very impatient Pokemon trainer.

"Will I have been thinking." Lily suddenly said after walking for another hour "We both have Pokemon now, and we still have not had a battle!" Will quickly agreed, excited to get to battle his best friend with his new Pokemon.

"How about a 2 vs 2 battle?" Will asked.

"Sure that sounds great!" Lily agreed. Both trainers walked towards either end of the road they were walking on.

"Ready to lose?" Lily taunted, confident she could win since she hatched Pikoo's egg when she was 13, and raised her since then.

"Go Pup!" Will announced as a Poochyena sprang out of its Pokeball.

"It's your time to shine, Kip!" Lily announced. Both Pokemon stood watching the other awaiting their trainer's orders.

"Start this battle out with howl, Pup!" Will ordered. Pup began to howl raising its attack stat.

"Counter with mud slap, Kip!" Lily countered as Kip hurled mud in Pup's face.

"Retaliate with tackle!" Will cried. Pup rammed into Kip, and knocked him into a nearby tree.

"Don't give up, Kip. Use tackle!" Lily encouraged.

"Use tackle on Kip!" Will countered. Both Pokemon rammed into each other, and knocked each other onto the ground. Pup quickly rose up from the ground and tackled Kip again.

"Great hit, Pup" Will cheered. "Now finish Kip with another tackle!" Pup rammed into Kip, who still had not recovered from the past attack. Kip fell to the ground, unconscious, making Pup the winner of the battle.

"Good job, Will, but you still have to defeat Pikoo." Lily commented after returning Kip to his Pokeball. She then released Pikoo from her Pokeball.

"Let's win this battle, Pikoo!" Lily said. "Use thundershock!" Pikoo charged up energy and shot a small jolt of electricity at Pup. When Pup got up, he could not move.

'He must be paralyzed." Will thought. Unsure of what to do now, he simply called out another attack.

"Tackle!" Will ordered. Pup tried to attack Pikoo, but was stopped by his paralysis.

"Finish with thundershock!" Lily cried. Pikoo shot another jolt of electricity at Pup, and this time he could no longer stand.

"Return, Pup." Will said as he recalled Poochyena to his Pokeball. Hoping he could still win his very first battle, he sent out his first Pokemon.

"Finish this, Pyro!" Will called to his partner as the chick Pokemon appeared from his Pokeball.

"Attack with ember quickly!" Will ordered. Pyro shot small balls of fire at Pikoo. Pikoo quickly dodged the ember, and ran behind him.

"Thundershock!" Lily countered. Pikoo hit Pyro with thundershock, knocking him back.

"Use scratch!" Will told. Pyro ran towards Pikoo hoping to scratch her with his claws, but ended up missing after Pikoo dodged at the last second.

"You are going to have to do better than that if you want to beat me, Will." Lily taunted after Pikoo dodged Pyro's attack.

"Let's end this quickly, Pikoo. Use your strongest thundershock!" Lily said, hoping to end the battle. Pikoo used her strongest thundershock and knocked Pyro off his feet. When he tried to get back up Pikoo shot another, smaller thundershock at Pyro, and finished the battle.

"Pyro! Are you ok, buddy?" Will asked concerned for his partner.

"Tor Torchic." Pyro cried, sad he lost his first battle.

"It's ok Pyro. We will win next time, buddy." Will said, relieved his friend was safe after the battle.

"Thanks for the battle, Will. You did good for your first battle. You have to remember Pikoo and I have been training together for 2 years now since she has hatched." Lily reminded Will. Remembering that fact made him feel better about losing his first battle.

"That was a good battle." said a young girl with a small dragon Pokemon walking towards Will and Lily. She seemed tall for her age, and had brown hair and blue eyes. "My name is Nicole Anderson, and my friend, Bagon, here is named Meteor."

"Nice to meet you, Nicole. My name is Lily Davis and this is Will Knight" Lily told Nicole.

"Hello." Will greeted as he pulled out his PokeDex, and pointed it at Bagon.

'Bagon the Rock Head Pokemon. Its well-developed neck muscles and iron-like head can smash boulders into pieces.' said the PokeDex.

'Bagon sounds like a cool Pokemon to have' Will thought.

"Are you both headed towards Oldale Town? That is where I am headed, and I am lost" Nicole said sheepishly, ending Will's daydream.

"Yes, we are about an hour away from Oldale Town actually. Do you want to walk there with us?" Will asked Nicol.

"That sounds good. Let's go." Nicol said excited to get to her destination.

* * *

After another hour of walking, the group noticed a town. Ecstatic, the group ran towards Oldale Town. When they got there they split up. Will went to the PokeMart for supplies, and Lily and Nicole went to the Pokemon Center to rent a room for the night. While they were there, Lily and Nicole gave Nurse Joy their Pokemon and Will's, so she could heal them. When Will came back they decided to go train on Route 103.

"Do you want to have a practice battle, Will?" Nicol asked.

"Sure!" Will said, hoping to win this battle.

"It will have to be a 1 vs 1 battle, because my only Pokemon is Meteor." Nicol said pointing at her Bagon. "Are you ready?"

"Of course. Let's win this, Pyro!" Will announced. After Will threw his Pokeball, a small fire chick Pokemon appeared.

"Tor Torchic!" Pyro cried, ready to do better in this battle than he had in his first. He looked towards his opponent, and noticed the Rock Head Pokemon.

"I will judge this battle." Lily stated. "When one Pokemon is unable to continue fighting, this battle is over. Begin the battle!"

"Start this battle with growl, and follow up with scratch!" Will ordered as Pyro growled at Meteor, and then ran at Meteor, and scratched him. After losing his first battle, he tried to remake his strategy. Instead of using brute force and never-ending attacks, Will is trying to use status moves to lower his opponents' stats, and raise his team's stats.

"Fight back with bite, Meteor!" Nicole countered. Meteor ran up to Pyro to bite him, but Pyro jumped out of the way before he could get hit.

"Point blank ember!" Will called. Pyro shot small balls of flame at Meteor right after he dodged his bite attack. Meteor was shot back into a tree from the close range attack.

"Keep it up, Pyro!" Will shouted. Pyro continued to use his ember until Meteor could no longer stand.

"The battle is over." Lily announced. "Meteor is unable to continue battling. Will is the winner!"

"Yes! Great job, Pyro!" Will cried happily as he scooped up Pyro in his arms. "We just won our first battle!"

"Great job, Will. I'm glad you won your first battle. Your first win is something you will never forget." Nicol told Will. He was surprised this young girl was so mature for her age.

"You did great, Will." Lily said. Pyro started to look at Lily expectantly, and she giggled. "You did great, too, Pyro."

"Should we return to Oldale Town, and get some dinner at the Pokemon Center?" Will asked, still happy about his first victory.

"Let's go." Lily responded.

* * *

After they returned to Oldale Town, the group went to the Pokemon Center to eat dinner. After dinner, Will decided to train on Route 103. While he was training with Pyro and Pup, Lily and Nicole stayed at the Pokemon Center. After training for a few hours, Will returned to the Pokemon Center, and the group went to sleep for the night. When they awoke, they prepared to leave, and Nicole was unsure of where to go from there.

"You could travel with us, Nicole." Will told Nicole. "The more people the better."

"Are you sure you would not mind having me around?" Nicole asked.

"Of course we wouldn't. Besides it will be like having a little sister around, and I have always wanted to have a sister." Lily told her. Neither Lily or Will had any siblings, so they both believed it would be fun to have Nicole around.

"Where are we headed to then?" Nicole asked, glad she made two new friends, and are letting her travel with them.

"First we will go to Petalburg City, and from there we are going to Rustboro City for Lily's contest and my gym battle." Will explained.

"If we know where we are going, then let's go!" Nicole exclaimed, happy to travel. The group set out for Petalburg City, and from there to Rustboro City, to compete in Lily's first Pokemon Contest and Will's first gym battle.

Will and Lily have made a new friend in Nicole, and are now adventuring with her. What will the group find on Route 102? New Pokemon? New Rivals? Find out in the next chapter of A Hoenn Adventure!

**AN**

**Nicole Anderson is an OC from Typhlosion8. If you want to send in an OC, the form is on my profile. If you send in an OC please send in a coordinator, because I have 4 gym battlers and 1 coordinator, counting Will and Lily. If you liked this chapter, or feel I could make it better in any way, please review.**

**Warrior of Hope**


	3. Coordinating Competition

A Hoenn Adventure

**Disclaimer- I do not own Pokemon**

**Author's Note**

**I would like to thank ****SnivyPro18** **for beta-reading my story along with ****That one Mudkip** **and ****Typlosion8.**

**School started August 20th this year for me, and I will add chapters a little more slowly. I will try to work on this story as often as I can, but I will certainly have less free time than I have had. **

**This chapter I have had next to no inspiration. My past two chapters I knew exactly what I wanted to have happen, but this time I had no idea. To get some ideas I started to watch the Pokemon anime again. While watching the Battle Frontier season, I watched Drew and May closely. I am, and have always been,**

**a Contestshipper, so watching the pair gave me ideas for a coordinating rival for Lily. I hope you enjoy the chapter!**

**Will's Team**

**1. Torchic (Pyro)-Lv. 11**

**Attacks- Scratch, Growl, Ember**

**2. Poochyena (Pup)-Lv. 8**

**Attacks- Tackle, Howl**

**Lily's Team-**

**1. Pichu (Pikoo)-Lv. 13**

**Attacks- Thundershock, Charm, Sweet Kiss**

**2. Mudkip (Kip)-Lv. 8**

**Attacks- Tackle, Growl, Mud Slap**

**Nicole's Team**

**1. Bagon (Meteor)- Lv. 10**

**Attacks- Rage, Bite, Leer**

* * *

**Coordinating Competition **

Will, Lily, and Nicole were on their way to Petalburg City. They had stopped for a few battles with other beginner trainers. They were all simple battles against younger trainers with only a slight knowledge of battling. These battles were all quite simple for the group. As the day went on, the group was getting tired of walking.

"Could we take a break now?" Lily asked tired from walking for hours. She had let Pikoo out of her Pokeball earlier, and Pikoo was now walking alongside Lily.

"Sure." Will answered. Will wanted to take a break for different reasons than Lily, though. He was ready to train some more with his Pokemon.

"You should work on your appeals for contests, Lily. There will be some very talented coordinators in Rustboro City. You should consider practicing some combos, too." Nicole told Lily. Lily thought about it, and quickly agreed. She had practiced battling, but not her Pokemon's appeals.

"How about we all go train, and return here in 2 hours. Then we will get dinner ready." Will planned. "Does that sound good?" Both Lily and Nicole agreed, and the group then split up.

* * *

After 10 minutes of walking Lily found a nice spot next to a small pond where she could train her Pokemon. She released Kip from his Pokeball.

"Ok Kip, we are going to practice appeals for the contest. I plan on using you for the appeal round, and Pikoo for the battle rounds, and since we have not done any work on appeals yet it is your turn to train." Lily explained.

For practice, Lily had Kip shoot mud slap at targets to practice his accuracy. In the beginning, he had not done so well. He continually missed the targets. After training, though, his accuracy greatly improved. Now that his accuracy is good enough, Lily plans to teach him the appeal she has in mind for her first contest.

"For our first contest, you will use mud slap on the targets across the arena. This will show how accurately you can use your attacks." Lily explained "I'm still planning the rest, but for now we will continue to work on your accuracy."

After an hour of practice, Lily was ready to head back to the group's camp early. On her way she heard a trainer calling out attacks to his Pokemon.

"Use absorb, Leif. Counter with detect, Sirius." The trainer called. He was a tall boy, and seemed to be about Lily's age. He had blonde hair, and wore a white shirt, black jacket, jeans, and black tennis shoes. Lily then noticed the Pokemon he had. She did not recognize the first Pokemon she saw. It looked like a blue dog that walks on two feet. She knew what the other Pokemon was, though! He had a Treecko!

'He must be the other starter trainer.' Lily thought, remembering her mother telling her there was another new trainer getting a Pokemon, and he was coming to Holenn from the Sinnoh region.

'That must be a Sinnoh Pokemon!' She thought. 'I will use my PokeDex to see what it is.'

'Riolu, the emanation Pokemon. The aura that emanates from its body intensifies to alert others if it is afraid or sad." The PokeDex stated. Confused by the sudden noise, the trainer turned towards Lily.

"Who are you?" The trainer asked.

"My name is Lily Davis. Who are you?" Lily asked.

"My name is Nick Parker, and I am the future Top Coordinator for Hoenn!" Nick answered.

"You are a coordinator?" Lily asked.

"Yes, and I'm guessing you are one, too?" Nick responded.

"Yes I am, but I do not have any ribbons yet. Would you like to have a practice battle?" Lily asked hoping to battle the Riolu.

"Sure." Nick said. "How about a 2 vs 2?"

"That sounds good. Pikoo, Kip take the stage!" Lily announced. Kip and Pikoo appeared from their respective Pokeballs, ready for battle.

"First I will use my Treecko, Leif. Who will you use?" Nick asked.

"I will start our battle with Pikoo." Lily answered.

Both trainers walked towards either side of the road, and prepared for battle. Pikoo had small sparks appearing at her cheeks, showing she was more than ready for the battle to begin. On the other side Leif was standing calmly, waiting for his trainer.

"Ready to begin?" Lily asked. Nick nodded to show his approval, and then Lily started the battle in.

"Start this battle with sweet kiss!" Lily called. Pikoo ran at Leif, but Leif dodged faster than Lily thought possible.

"Treecko are very fast Pokemon. You can't expect to beat me if your Pokemon can't keep up." Nick taunted. Getting angry, Lily had Pikoo use thundershock, and Leif dodged again.

"You have to focus if you want to even have a chance at victory!" Nick snapped hoping to get a good battle. "If you can't focus enough for this battle how do you expect to do well at the Rustboro Contest!?"

Lily felt like she was punched in the gut. She knew it was true, though. In an unofficial battle, if she can't focus she is unsure of how she will do in an official contest battle.

'I have to focus on Leif' Lily thought. 'If I can pay attention to what he is doing I will be able to help Pikoo better.' With her new found determination, she called out a new strategy to her Pokemon.

"Charge a thundershock, but do not release it until I tell you to." Lily told Pikoo. Pikoo charged thundershock for about a ten seconds until Lily told her to stop.

"Shoot it straight at Leif!" Lily ordered. Pikoo shot a powerful thundershock right at Leif. He was hit before he had enough time to dodge the oncoming attack. He tried to stand up, but he couldn't.

'He's paralyzed!' Lily thought. 'Now is the chance to hit him again.' Lily ordered another thundershock, and this one easily hit Leif as he was paralyzed.

"Quick attack, and then use absorb!" Nick shouted. Leif jumped up and ran towards Pikoo faster than Lily thought was possible. Leif hit Pikoo, and then quickly used absorb. Leif, feeling stronger as each second passed, continued using absorb. Pikoo, quickly losing health, could not counter the attack. Seeing that Pikoo would not be able to battle anymore Nick told Leif to stop using absorb, and recalled him to his Pokeball.

"Let's just finish this battle now. Both Leif and Sirius have more than enough strength left to win. You should train a lot more before entering the contest. I assure you I will not be the strongest at the contest, and if I beat you this easily you don't stand a chance right now." Nick explained seriously. Lily knew he was right. She knew that if she and her Pokemon were to have any chance at winning her first ribbon in Rustboro City she had to train a lot more.

"Thanks for the battle, Nick. I see I have a lot more to learn. Will I see you at the contest?" Lily asked hoping to have a rematch. Nick smiled a little bit.

"Of course. It is my job to beat you as your rival." Nick said while smiling. "I will meet you at the contest." Nick walked away with his Riolu, Sirius, on his shoulder. Lily smiled glad she made a new friend and rival today in Nick.

* * *

While Lily was battling her new rival, Nick, Nicole was searching for a new Pokemon for her team. She wanted a Pokemon that stood out in her eyes. She has seen many Zigzagoon, Poochyena, and Wurmple, but none of these Pokemon seem to interest her. She has Meteor walking with her, hoping he may see a cool Pokemon that she doesn't. Just as she was starting to give up on the hope of finding an awesome Pokemon on Route 102, she saw a small, blue Pokemon. She was unsure of what it was, so she used the PokeDex she was given from Professor Birch in Littleroot Town.

"Marill, the aquamouse Pokemon. The tip of its tail is filled with oil that is lighter than water, so it acts as a float." The PokeDex stated.

"This looks like a cool Pokemon!" Nicole said softly, so the Marill would not hear her. "Meteor, walk towards it, and use bite. Make sure you stay quiet. I don't want Marill to know we are here."

Meteor ran towards Marill, stealth completely forgotten, and used bite. Marill flinched from the attack, and then used water gun. It shot Meteor back a few feet, but did not do too much damage. After it used water gun, it ran at Meteor, and knocked him into a nearby tree with its powerful tackle attack. Surprised by its strength, Nicole wanted this Pokemon even ,more now.

"Use bite again, and do not give up." Nicole ordered. Meteor ran up to Marill, and started a non-stop barrage of bite attacks. Meteor continued its barrage of attacks until it seemed Marill could no longer stand. Seeing this as her chance to catch Marill, Nicole threw a Pokeball at the aquamouse Pokemon. The Pokeball moved a few times until the circle in the middle lit up. She had caught Marill. Ecstatic, Nicole gave Meteor a hug. She was proud he had done so well in his battle. She checked her watch, and noticed she still has a half an hour until she was supposed to be back at the group's campsite for the night.

'I will just take my time on the walk back to the campsite, and think of a good nickname for the newest Pokemon on my team' Nicole thought.

* * *

When the group met back at the campsite they discussed how each of their training went. Will was surprised Lily had met someone as powerful as Nick, and had become his new friend and rival.

He was jealous that Nicole had added a new member to her team of Pokemon.

"You both had such interesting days, and I did nothing but train!? That is not fair!" Will roared. Lily and Nicole both giggled at the immaturity of their friend. Trying to find a new topic so she stops laughing at Will, Lily asked Nicole if Marill had a nickname yet.

"Yes she does. I have decided to name her Zuzu." Nicole answered as she released Marill from her Pokeball.

"Do you like the name Zuzu?" she asked her newest Pokemon.

"Mar Marill" The Pokemon cried nodding her head.

"Let's go to sleep. We are headed towards Petalburg City right when we wake up tomorrow morning." Lily stated being the responsible one in the group.

When they awoke the next morning, the group started walking towards the direction of Petalburg City, the group's next destination.

**AN**

**Will the group's gym battler, Will, try to face the Petalburg Gym as soon as he arrives like a certain character from the anime? (Cough *Ash* Cough) Please review, and send feedback so I can make this story better.**

**Warrior of Hope**


	4. Gym Battle Fiasco

**Author's Note**

**I'm sorry for the wait on this chapter. School started, and my schedule became very busy. Another reason is I have been reading a great Pokemon fic. It is The Master Challenge by NoSignalBlueScreen. I truly think you should check it out. It is in the top 3 best Pokemon stories I have ever read. Since I took a while I tried to make this chapter a little longer to make up for the extremely long wait. Anyways, on with the story!**

**Will's Team**

**1. Torchic (Pyro)-Lv. 13**

**Attacks- Scratch, Growl, Ember**

**2. Poochyena (Pup)-Lv. 10**

**Attacks- Tackle, Howl, Sand Attack**

**Lily's Team-**

**1. Pichu (Pikoo)-Lv. 14**

**Attacks- Thundershock, Charm, Sweet Kiss**

**2. Mudkip (Kip)-Lv. 9**

**Attacks- Tackle, Growl, Mud Slap**

**Nicole's Team**

**1. Bagon (Meteor)- Lv. 12**

**Attacks- Rage, Bite, Leer**

**2. Marill (Zuzu)- Lv. 9**

**Attacks- Tackle, Water Gun, Defense Curl**

**Gym Battle Fiasco**

Will, Lily, and Nicole arrived in Petalburg City the next morning after an hour walk. Immediately when they arrived, the group went to a Pokemon Center to heal their Pokemon. While waiting for Nurse Joy to finish healing their Pokemon they sat in the lobby. Will, being impatient,checked his PokeNav for something to do in Petalburg. The only thing that he saw on the PokeNav was the Pokemon Center, a PokeMart, and-

"There is a Gym here!?" Will shouted, asking no one in particular. Nurse Joy had been in the process of bringing Will his Pokemon after declaring them to be in perfect condition.

There is a gym here, but I suggest going elsewhere first. Norman, the leader, is a very powerful gym leader who uses normal type Pokemon." Nurse Joy informed Will. Will being psyched for his very first gym battle, grabbed his Pokeballs from Nurse Joy, and sprinted out of the door before Lily and Nicole could process what had just happened.

"Thanks! Hurry up Lily! Nicole!" He shouted before he ran out of the Pokemon Center.

"What were you saying about this gym Nurse Joy?" Lily asked wondering what Will was getting himself into this time. Nicole, unlike Lily who was used to Will's infamous impatience, was surprised, and stood looking towards the doors in disbelief.

"It isn't dangerous. You don't need to worry about that, but Norman is a very powerful and experienced gym leader. Normally challengers only battle him after earning more badges. I'm not sure Will is going to be able to defeat Norman at this point." Nurse Joy explained. Lily sighed.

"Let's go Nicole. We had better go to the gym, and watch Will." Lily said. "Thanks for the information Nurse Joy."

* * *

Nicole and Lily walked to the Petalburg Gym, and entered to see Will standing on the battlefield across from a man Lily had never met.

'That must be Norman, the gym leader.' She thought.

"Are you ready for the battle, Will? I will not hold back during our battle." Norman warned. Will seemed to think for a moment before responding to the gym leader.

"Yes, I think my Pokemon and I have a chance at victory." Will responded. Both battlers seemed prepared for the battle, so the referee began to speak.

"This gym battle will be between the gym leader of the Petalburg City Gym, Norman, and the challenger, Will Knight, from Littleroot Town. This will be a 2 vs 2 battle with only the challenger allowed to use substitutions. Let the battle begin!" The referee announced. As soon as the referee finished, Will and Norman threw their Pokeballs onto the field.

"Go Pup!"

"Go Spinda!"

Will's first gym battle had just officially started. Both trainers said nothing as their Pokemon prepared to battle. After a few seconds, Will launched the first attack of the battle.

"Start this battle with howl!" Pup started to howl loudly.

"Strike with dizzy Punch!" Norman ordered his Pokemon. Spinda ran towards Pup and started to rapidly punch him. Pup retaliated with tackle, but Spinda easily dodged, and Pup ran into a wall. Will quickly thought of a way to fight back.

"Use sand attack!" Pup hurled sand at Spinda, and hit this time. Norman did not seem concerned that Spinda's accuracy was lowered by the sand attack.

"Dizzy punch again." Spinda ran at Pup, and kept attacking Pup. Spinda's lowered accuracy did not seem to faze Spinda at all. Spinda continued the assault on Pup until the dark type Pokemon could not continue to fight.

"Poochyena is unable to battle. Spinda wins the first round." the referee announced after Pup was returned to his Pokeball. Lily and Nicole both seemed worried about Will's loss of the first round.

"He did not even damage Spinda." Nicole said in awe. "Nurse Joy was right. Norman is definitely a very experienced and powerful gym battler." Lily nodded her head in agreement, but never took her eyes off of the battlefield. Will threw his second and final Pokeball onto the field, and released his starter partner, Pyro. The battle immediately continued with an order from Will.

"Run up towards Spinda, and use a point blank ember!"

"Psybeam! Then use dizzy punch!" Norman countered. When Pyro tried to attack Spinda with ember Spinda quickly dodged and used psybeam. It was a direct hit, and dealt a lot of damage to Pyro. As soon as psbeam ended Spinda ran at Pyro, and unleashed a barrage of dizzy punches at Pyro.

"Are you able to continue, Pyro?" Will asked his Pokemon, concerned Pyro was hurt too badly from the last attack. Pyro stood up, and nodded his head at his trainer.

"Tor Torchic!"

"Use scratch!" Will ordered. Pyro ran at Spinda, and attempted to scratch him. Spinda quickly dodged when he saw Pyro running towards him. Norman saw his chance to hit Pyro.

"Hurry Spinda! Turn and use psybeam!" Spinda immediately turned in the direction of Pyro, and used psybeam. Pyro stood up after the direct hit, and started glowing red.

'This must be his ability Blaze!' Will thought. Knowing Blaze would boost fire type attacks, Will called out a new plan to Pyro.

"Run straight at Spinda while using ember!" Pyro sprinted towards Spinda while shooting fire balls that were stronger than normal.

"Blaze must really help Pyro with his fire attacks." Nicole commented to Lily. They were both impressed that Pyro was still able to battle after taking direct hits from the very powerful Spinda.

"That must be a powerful Torchic to last this long against Norman's Spinda." said an unexpected voice coming from behind Lily and Nicole. Lily quickly turned around out of surprise, and noticed a boy with blonde hair talking to them.

"Hello. It's nice to meet you. My name is Wally, and I'm here to talk to the gym leader, Norman. I'm hoping he will help me catch my first Pokemon." Wally greeted. Lily and Nicole both introduced themselves to Wally.

"I'm Lily Davis."

"My name is Nicole Anderson."

While Lily and Nicole were talking to Wally, Will was still focused on his first gym battle. Pyro and Spinda were now simply firing an attack, and the other dodges. Neither had been able to land an attack since Wally appeared.

"Let's finish this battle! Use dizzy punch, Spinda!" Norman announced. Spinda charged towards Pyro, and started the final barrage of punches. Pyro could no longer fight, and fell over, unconscious. Will was very concerned about his friend, and recalled him to his Pokeball. Norman recalled Spinda, and walked towards Will.

"That was a good battle Will, but you should challenge other gyms before returning for a rematch. Your Pokemon will need more experience before battling me again." Norman explained to Will. Although Will hated to admit it, he knew Norman was right, and he would need to train a lot before having a rematch.

"Thanks Norman. Next time I'm here in Petalburg, I will challenge you again, and this time I won't lose." Will said. While they were talking,Lily, Nicole, and Wally walked over to them.

"Hello. My name is Wally. It is nice meeting you, Will. You and your Pokemon battled well against Norman." Wally greeted.

"Thanks. It's nice meeting you, too." Will replied. After greeting Will, Wally looked at Norman

"Norman, sir, could you help me catch my first Pokemon?" Wally asked. Norman seemed to think for a moment before responding.

"I have an idea. Will, would you mind helping Wally catch his first Pokemon? I believe it would be a good experience for both of you." Norman explained. Will did not even hesitate before answering.

"No problem! i would love to help someone else catch their first Pokemon."

"Then here is a Pokeball for you, Wally. Good luck!" Norman said. He handed Wally a Pokeball, and then the group left the gym.

* * *

The group walked towards Route 102 to find a Pokemon for Wally. They only walked for about 30 minutes when they saw a lone Pokemon along the road. The group slowly walked closer to it without it noticing. When they got close enough to see the Pokemon clearly, Will used his PokeDex.

"Ralts, the feeling Pokemon. If its horns capture the warm feelings of people or Pokémon, its body warms up slightly." The PokeDex stated. The Ralts heard the PokeDex, and quickly ran behind a tree. When Wally saw him run away he glared at Will. Will, unabashed, walked towards Ralts. When he came into Ralt's view he ran away from him, but towards Wally.

"Hello Ralts. Would you like to travel the region with me?" Wally asked the scared Pokemon. Ralts nodded his head, but jumped out of his hands. Ralts teleported to the other side of the road, and looked prepared to battle.

"Why did Ralts teleport over there if he wants to be my partner?" Wally asked.

"He wants to battle you. Since you don't have a Pokemon of your own yet I will battle for you, but you will have to throw the Pokeball." Will explained to the inexperienced trainer. Wally understood, and stood back behind Will. Will threw Pyro's Pokeball towards the battlefield, and released the fire chick Pokemon. When Pyro appeared from his Pokeball he looked at his opponent, and prepared for battle. Ralts started the battle by using confusion on Pyro. He was knocked back by the psychic attack, but ran towards Ralts.

"Use scratch!" Pyro scratched Ralts, and quickly jumped back before Ralts could retaliate. Ralts teleported away, and Pyro could not see where see teleported to. Before Pyro could search for him, Ralts used confusion. Pyro was knocked into the ground. Ralts quickly teleported away again and again. She continued to teleport from branch to branch, so Pyro could not keep up with him. Will was in trouble. He knew he could not beat Ralts if he kept teleporting. Pyro's attacks could not hit Ralts if Pyro could not see him. While Will was thinking of a plan to fight Ralts, he stopped teleporting on a branch above Pyro.

'He must be out of energy!' Will thought. He immediately told Pyro to attack Ralts while she was standing still in the tree.

"Pyro! Use ember quickly straight above you!" Pyro shot small balls of fire towards Ralts, and hit the small Pokemon. Ralts fell from the tree, and onto the ground next to Pyro. It was clear that the attack from Pyro was all the damage that Ralts could take. Will saw a chance, and told Wall to act.

"Wally, throw the Pokeball at Ralts now!" Will told Wally. Wally nodded in agreement, and threw the Pokeball Norman gave him at the small Pokemon. Ralts was absorbed into the Pokeball, and it proceeded to shake a few times before stopping. Wally had caught Ralts!

"Great job, Wally!" Lily told Wally. He seemed extremely happy to have a Pokemon of his own.

"Thank you all. Without you three I may never have caught Ralts." Wally told the group gratefully. Will smiled at Wally, happy his new friend caught his first Pokemon.

"It was no problem Wally. We always help our friends. What do you plan to do now?" Will asked his new friend.

"I'm going to start my own adventure. I will battle gym leaders, and eventually I will make it the Hoenn League." Wally said. He was extremely excited to start his own adventure with his Pokemon, Ralts.

"I hope to see you there at the Hoenn League, Wally." Will told the new trainer. Lily and Nicole both parted ways with Wally as well.

"Goodbye Wally. I hope to see you soon" Lily told him.

"Next time we meet let's battle!" Nicole said excitedly.

Wally left the group with a smile on his face. He had met three new friends that day, and caught his first Pokemon. He now left to prepare for his own journey across the tropical region of Hoenn.

* * *

The group left Petalburg CIty, and walked towards Route 104. The group was camped right outside the beach facing Route 105. Lily knew she had to train. Nick had told her that there would be many, powerful coordinators at the Rustboro Contest, so when the group decided to take a break from walking Lily announced she was going to train on the beach. When she was walking to the beach she saw a familiar face with a Riolu.

"Nick!" Lily said, surprised yet happy to see her rival here. "What are you doing here?"

"The same thing as you most likely. I decided to train my Pokemon for my next contest." Nick explained. He looked exactly like he did the last time Lily saw him. Sirius stood beside him, and was looking at Lily strangely.

"Is something wrong with Sirius?" Lily asked. Nick seemed confused for a moment until he looked at his partner. When he noticed Sirius looking at Lily oddly he chuckled a little bit.

"No, you don't need to worry. Sirius is a Riolu. They are able to sense a person's emotions. Your emotions must have just surprised him. I don't think he was expecting anyone around here." Nick explained.

"Nick would you like to have a practice battle? Just a 1 vs 1 this time. I want to see if my Pokemon have gotten any stronger." Lily asked. Nick thought for a moment before answering.

"Sure. Sirius never got to battle last time, so I'm sure he would love to battle." The Pokemon in question nodded before calmly walking towards one side of the beach. Lily walked towards the other side of the beach, and released her Pokemon for battle.

"Kip it's time to shine!" Kip jumped onto the field, and looked excited to battle. Nick started the battle with Sirius by having him use quick attack. Sirius sprinted at Kip, and knocked him back. Lily decided it was to time to fight back.

"Counter with mud slap!" Kip hurled mud at Sirius, and got a direct hit on the emanation Pokemon. Lily saw this hit, and told Kip to not stop. Sirius was being hit with mud slap, and was beginning to take serious damage.

"Stay calm, and use detect." Nick countered. Lily was unsure if Sirius dodged all the attacks or if they didn't hurt him, because Sirius escaped the mud slap barrage relatively unscathed.

"Now use force palm!" Sirius at at Kip, and attacked him with a shock wave from his fist. Kip was shot back forcefully, and fainted. Lily recalled Kip to his Pokeball, and looked at Sirius. She was unsure how powerful this Pokemon was to be able to do that much damage with one attack.

"Sirius is incredibly powerful. You have trained him extremely well, Nick." Lily remarked. Lily sat down along the beach, and motioned for Nick to sit next to her.

"Thanks." Nick said as he sat down. The two sat in silence for a while until Lily noticed it was getting late.

"Do you have a campsite for the night, Nick? If not you can join my friends and I tonight." Lily offered. Nick seemed to think about it for a minute before responding.

"That sounds nice. Thanks." Nick answered. Nick and Lily walked back to Lily's campsite in silence. It was a short walk, and Will and Nicole were surprised to see someone with Lily when she came back.

"This is my rival, Nick. I told him he could camp here with us for the night." Lily introduced as Nicole and Will approached. Will and Nicole greeted Nick, and then continued setting up camp. Will was setting up tents with Nick, Nicole gathered firewood, and Lily was preparing dinner. The night went quickly after that, and soon everyone went to sleep.

* * *

The next morning Lily awoke early to see someone sitting by the fire brewing what looked like hot chocolate. As she approached, the person turned around to reveal Nick.

"I hope I did not wake you up." Nick told Lily. She shook her head.

"Don't worry. I have to wake up this early to make sure everyone else actually wakes up. Nicole and Will could sleep forever if I didn't wake them up." Lily explained. Nick handed Lily a mug of hot chocolate, and the two sat there drinking their hot chocolate until Lily decided she should wake up Will and Nicole.

"Wish me luck." She said before entering Will's tent. Nick heard Will complaining about not wanting to get up, and Lily yelling at him to wake up. He snickered a bit listening to the argument. A few minutes later she left Will's tent, and seemed to repeat the process with Nicole. After 20 minutes everyone was awake, and eating breakfast.

"Thank you for the hospitality, but I'm going to head to Petalburg Woods. I hope to see you at the Rustboro Contest, Lily." Nick said winking at Lily.

"It was nice meeting you, Nicole and Will." he added after walking off towards Petalburg Woods. Will noticed Lily start to blush, and chuckled. Lily look at him, and glared.

"Do you have something to say Will Knight?!" She asked, still blushing. Will immediately started cracking up, and Lily started chasing him around the campsite.

"There is never a dull moment." Nicole muttered as Lily was chasing her best friend around their campsite.

**AN**

**I did not originally plan on having Nick in this chapter, but I wanted to add some training from Lily in at the end of the chapter. I thought Nick would be a good person to help her train since he is also a coordinator. I seriously doubt I described Force Palm correctly, but said that the target is attacked by a shock wave. The game shows a fist, so I was unsure.**

**Warrior of Hope**


	5. Team Aqua Attack!

**Author's Note**

**I have written a one-shot about May and Drew meeting up after the Wallace Cup called Here With You. If you are a Contestshipping fan like me you should check it out. I think you will like it.**

**Pokemon will learn new moves and grow levels in between chapter, because I think a lot of training would just be boring to read.**

**I'm sorry for the extremely long wait. Between writer's block and my extremely busy schedule, writing this chapter has been difficult. Anyways, on with the story!**

**Will's Team**

**1. Torchic (Pyro)-Lv. 15**

**Attacks- Scratch, Growl, Ember, Peck**

**2. Poochyena (Pup)-Lv. 11**

**Attacks- Tackle, Howl, Sand Attack,Bite**

**Lily's Team-**

**1. Pichu (Pikoo)-Lv. 15**

**Attacks- Thundershock, Charm, Sweet Kiss, Thunder Wave**

**2. Mudkip (Kip)-Lv. 12**

**Attacks- Tackle, Growl, Mud Slap, Water Gun**

**Nicole's Team**

**1. Bagon (Meteor)- Lv. 14**

**Attacks- Headbutt, Bite, Leer**

**2. Marill (Zuzu)- Lv. 11**

**Attacks- Tackle, Water Gun, Defense Curl, Rollout**

* * *

**Team Aqua Attack!**

After Will promised to stop laughing at Lily, she finally stopped chasing him around their campsite. The group then decided to head into Petalburg Woods in hope of getting to Rustboro City the next day. Will, Lily, and Nicole walked through the forest for 30 minutes before they seeing anyone. The first person they saw was a young boy with a bug net. He introduced himself as Charlie Caine, and challenged Nicole to a battle. Nicole accepted, and Charlie and Nicole both released their Pokemon.

"Go Nincada!"

"You're up Meteor!"

Both Pokemon appeared out of their Pokeball with a flash of red light. Meteor looked towards Nicole, awaiting orders. Will pointed his PokeDex towards Nincada.

"Nincada, the Trainee Pokemon. It can sometimes live underground for more than 10 years. It absorbs nutrients from the roots of trees." The PokeDex stated. Lily stepped forward, acting as the referee of the battle.

"This will be a 1 vs 1 battle with Nicole Anderson and Charlie Caine. The first Pokemon to faint will be declared the loser. Let the battle begin!" Lily announced. Nicole started the battle quickly.

"Use leer, and then headbutt!" Meteor glared at Nincada, and then immediately charged at the bug. Nincada was unable to dodge, and was hit by the Rock Head Pokemon. Nincada retaliated with leech life, and drained energy from Meteor. Meteor immediately charged at Nincada with another headbutt. Nincada was hit again, but, again, countered with leech life.

"Use bite!" Meteor rushed towards his opponent, but before the attack could land a hit on Nincada, a man rushed through the battlefield. The strange man was wearing a suit and tie. He looked worried, and was watching the area he came from. Not long after he appeared, another man walked towards the now-forgotten battle. This man had a bandanna on his head with a striped shirt, ripped shorts, and long, striped socks.

"It seems like I finally caught up with you. Now will you finally give me what I want? You can't stop Team Aqua!" The man who was apparently a member of Team Aqua asked. He smirked seeing the fear in the grown man's eyes.

"I can't give you these important papers! These are important to our research in the Devon Corporation!" The man said outraged at the thought of giving his papers to the Aqua Grunt.

"Well if you won't give them to me peacefully, I'm going to have to take them!" The grunt roared. He released a Poochyena from his Pokeball. The Poochyena growled, and Charlie fled towards Petalburg City in fear with his Nincada not far behind him. Will and Lily each held a Pokeball, intending to battle the grunt, but Nicole stopped them."Meteor and I can take care of this grunt easily. You watch the Devon guy." The Devon worker looked angry, and shouted."I have a name!"

Lily glared at him, and he flinched at the look he was getting from the girl.

"We don't care what your name is!" Lily snapped. The man in question simply looked down, and decided to stay to quiet in fear of Lily's temper. Nicole started the battle quickly with an attack from Meteor.

"Headbutt!" Meteor sprinted towards Poochyena, and hit him directly. Poochyena retaliated with bite, but Meteor dodged before he could be hit.

"Show him your bite, Meteor!" Nicole countered. Meteor bit onto Poochyena before he had the time to dodge, and flinched from the attack. Seeing the chance, Meteor used headbutt, and knocked him into a tree. Poochyena continued to persist, and used tackle against Mateor. Meteor was knocked back, and then hit by another tackle. Nicole was worried, and thought of a new plan.

"Jump into the tree, and jump down using headbutt!" Meteor jumped into a nearby tree, and waited for Poochyena to be under him. Nicole saw this, and took the chance.

"Now!" Meteor jumped, and fell down towards the ground using headbutt. Poochyena took a direct hit from Meteor, and was unable to continue battling. The grunt saw this, and returned Poochyena to his Pokeball.

"Oh well. My loss doesn't matter. Even as we speak Team Aqua members are preparing for the assault on the Devon Corporation. I will be seeing you all again." the grunt said as he fled from the forest. As soon as he left the Devon Corp. man ran after him screaming.

"Don't even think about it!" Nicole looked towards Will and Lily, extremely confused about the grown man's behavior. Will shrugged, and walked towards the direction of Rustboro City.

"Where are you going?" Lily asked.

"I'm going to catch a new Pokemon!" Will stated, and air punched. Nicole face-palmed at the childishness of her friend, but Lily, however, seemed to think it was a good idea.

"I could use a new Pokemon, too." Lily agreed. The group headed out in different directions. They all agreed to meet at the exit of the forest in 2 hours. Will walked north towards Rustboro, Lily went east, and Nicole traveled west.

* * *

Will was not walking for long before he literally fell over a Pokemon. When he turned to see what Pokemon it was, Will heard a snarl. He immediately ran at the sight of a group of Poochyena that looked hungry. Will ran until he saw a tall tree, and then proceeded to climb it until he felt safe from the danger of angry Poochyena.

After the group of angry Poochyena left, Will deemed it safe to leave his safe zone. Not long after, he fell over another Pokemon.

'Not again!' Will thought. Just as he prepared to run away, back to the direction of his tree, he heard the Pokemon.

"Shroom!" The Pokemon looked like a mushroom with small feet. Will pointed his PokeDex towards the Pokemon, and listened to the monotonous voice.

"Shroomish, the Mushroom Pokemon. It prefers damp places. By day it remains still in the forest shade. It releases toxic powder from its head." The PokeDex said. Will looked at the Shroomish. and noticed it, like the Poochyena, was angry from being trampled.

"Hey buddy…let's not do anything rash." Will hesitantly said. Shroomish continued to walk closer to Will until he decided to release his own Pokemon.

"Go Pup!" Pup appeared from his Pokeball in a flash of red light. He looked towards Shroomish and growled.

"Use howl!" Pup began to howl, and Shroomish unleashed a stun spore at Pup.

"Counter with sand attack!" Pup hurled sand towards the stun spore, and both attacks were stopped. Shroomish rushed towards Pup, quickly gaining speed. Shroomish ran into Pup, and knocked him back with a powerful tackle.

"Use bite!" Before Shroomish could back away, he was bitten by Pup. Shroomish could no longer fight, and fell over onto the ground.

'He isn't very powerful….' Will thought. 'But I'm going to give him a chance."

"Go Pokeball!" Will threw a Pokeball, and when it hit Shroomish he was absorbed into the Pokeball. The Pokeball shook several times before the button lit up, symbolizing the capture. When it did, Will picked up the Pokeball.

"I'm going to name you Shroom." He said to the Pokeball. He returned Pup to his Pokeball then walked to the end of Petalburg Woods.

* * *

Lily, unlike Will, had a peaceful journey while exploring Petalburg Woods. She walked around looking for a Pokemon to catch, and saw many Pokemon. Lily saw Zigzagoon, Poochyena, Taillow, and an ape-like Pokemon called Slakoth. She tried to catch the Taillow, but it ran away before she could catch it. She continued along the path for an hour. After an hour she still could not find a Pokemon she wanted, so she headed towards Rustboro City.  
After another hour of walking, Lily saw Will at the end of the forest standing with Nicole. They were standing together looking at a Pokemon Lily had never seen before.

"Hey Lily! Come here!" Will shouted. "Check out my new Pokemon. His name is Shroom. He is a Shroomish." Nicole looked at Lily.

"Did you catch a new Pokemon, Lily?"

"No. I didn't find anything I wanted to catch. Did you find anything?" Nicole shook her head.

"I just trained with Meteor and Zuzu." Then Will started walking off again, and Nicole looked confused.

"Now where are you going?"

"To Rustboro City. That's where my gym battle is!" Nicole face-palmed yet again, and then followed Will with Lily not far behind. It wasn't long before the group had reached the exit of Petalburg Woods. At the exit there was a wall made completely of something that looked like-

"Is that string!?" Will asked surprised. Lily and Nicole seemed to agree, but were both in awe at the amount of the string. Where the exit to the forest was supposed to be there was a wall of pure white. Will drew a Pokeball, and released Pyro.

"Use ember on that string!" Pyro shot small balls of fire towards the string, and it combusted. The wall of white burnt down, and the flames then died. When the string was removed the group saw a Wurmple sitting on the other side.

"The Wurmple must have made the string!" Lily guessed. Nicole and Will both agreed. Nicole and Will were content leaving now that the walkway was open, but something made Lily stay. Lily suddenly told her friends to stop.

"I'm going to catch this Wurmple!" She then proceeded to release Kip from his Pokeball, and started a battle.

"Water gun!" Kip shot water towards the Bug Pokemon, and hit it. The Wurmple shot a string shot at Kip and wrapped him in a full-body cast. Wurmple fired poison stings towards the now-immobile Pokemon.

"Kip! Use mud slap!" As soon as the poison stings cut him open, Kip hurled a mud slap towards his opponent. Wurmple dodged the attack, and lunged towards Kip.

"Dodge!" Lily cried, but it was too late. Wurmple used bug bite on Kip, and Kip had no chance to dodge. The Mud Fish Pokemon was bit, and took a lot of damage. Wurmple then used a point blank poison sting barrage. That was all it took before Kip fainted.

"Wow! How strong is this Wurmple!?" Will asked surprised at the power-packed Bug Pokemon. Nicole agreed, but Lily said nothing as she drew a Pokeball.

"Is she using Pikoo, too?" Nicole wandered. Lily walked towards Wurmple, and sat down.

"You are a very powerful Pokemon. How would you like it if we worked together to make you stronger?" Lily asked. Wurmple nodded her head, and jumped at the Pokeball in Lily's hand. The Pokeball did not even shake before it lit up symbolizing the capture.

Wurmple immediately was released from the Pokeball, and began to glow.

"What's happening!?" Lily asked worried about her new Pokemon.

"She is evolving!" Will told her. Wurmple glowed for a few more seconds before revealing her new form.

"Sil coon." The Pokemon stated. Lily pointed her PokeDex at her new friend.

"Silcoon, the Cocoon Pokemon. It drinks dew that collects on its silk and waits for evolution. Its hard cocoon repels attacks." The PokeDex stated.

"Wow! Silcoon! You are going to become a beautiful Beautifly!" Lily cried. She grabbed her new Pokemon, and hugged her.

"I'm going to name you Melody. How does that sound?" She asked her new partner.

"Sil coon." Silcoon said simply. Lily took that as a form of agreement, and bounced excitedly at the thought of having a Beautifly. Lily, holding Melody, walked out of the forest towards Rustboro City with Nicole and Will not far behind.

* * *

**AN**

**The first evolution of the story. How was it? I hope you liked the chapter, and I apologize again for how long it took.**

**Warrior of Hope **


	6. Team Magma Mayhem

**Author's Note**

**OC's would be nice. Next chapter is the contest, or at least some of it. I need more coordinators to participate. If you have an OC that's not a coordinator you can send them in, too.**

**From lack of participation in my poll I decided to give Wally a Gallade in this story instead of the original Gardevoir. **

**Will's Team**

**Torchic (Pyro)-Lv. 15**

**Attacks- Scratch, Growl, Ember, Peck**

**Poochyena (Pup)- Lv. 12**

**Attacks- Tackle, Howl, Sand Attack, Bite**

**Shroomish (Shroom)-Lv. 8**

**Attacks- Tackle, Stun Spore, Absorb**

**Lily's Team**

**Pichu (Pikoo)- Lv. 15**

**Attacks- Thundershock, Charm, Sweet Kiss, Thunder Wave**

**Mudkip (Kip)-Lv. 12**

**Attacks- Tackle, Growl, Mud Slap, Water Gun**

**Silcoon (Melody)-Lv. 13**

**Attacks- Bug Bite, String Shot, Tackle, Poison Sting**

**Nicole's Team**

**Bagon (Meteor)- Lv. 14**

**Attacks- Headbutt, Bite, Leer**

**Marill (Zuzu)- Lv. 11**

**Attacks- Tackle, Water Gun, Defense Curl, Rollout**

* * *

**Team Magma Mayhem**

Lily led the group into a berry shop outside of Rustboro City. Will disapproved of the idea, because he wanted to battle the gym leader of Rustboro City. One quick glare from Lily fixed that problem though. While Will had stopped complaining, he continued asking Lily why she wanted to go to a berry store. Her answer was the same every time.

"For PokeBlock." Will would then ask what PokeBlock was, and then be ignored by the coordinator. This did not stop Will from his asking his barrage of questions, though. He continued to bother Lily until she finally snapped.

"PokeBlocks are used in contests to enhance a Pokemon's look and performance." Lily explained. Will seemed satisfied with the answer, and the group walked in silence until a building was seen in the distance.

"We are finally here!" Lily exclaimed. She began to walk a bit faster, and reached the store faster than Will thought was possible. As soon as Will and Nicole caught up with her, and reached the building, Lily bolted inside. A young woman in a dress was standing at a counter.

"Welcome. Feel free to look around." The young woman said kindly as she smiled towards the store's newest visitors. Lily quickly reached the counter, and asked for a PokeBlock case.

"Of course. It's no problem. We give a free PokeBlock case to customers with a purchase of 20 berries." The cashier explained. Lily waited no longer, and looked throughout the shop for berries. When she returned to the counter, and bought her berries she heard a crash outside.

"What was that?" Nicole asked. Just as Lily was going to grab the free PokeBlock case from the cashier, a Poochyena appeared along with a strange man in a red hat with horns, red shorts, and a red shirt with an M on it. He looked around until he noticed the counter. He pointed towards the counter, and his Poochyena leaped towards Lily.

"Watch out, Lily!" Will yelled as he pushed her out of they was before the Poochyena could attack her. The Poochyena, instead of attacking, grabbed Lily's berries. Outraged at the theft of something she just bought, Lily took out a Pokeball.

"I don't know who you are, but you are going to regret trying to steal from me!" Lily roared. She released Pikoo from her Pokeball, and she looked ready to battle. The man simply chuckled.

"I'm a member of the great Team Magma. We're trying to enlarge the land mass for the good of everybody. If you wish to fight against us we will show no mercy." The Team Magma grunt explained. He looked towards his Poochyena, and barked out orders.

"Use bite!"

"Dodge, and use thunder wave!" Pikoo quickly dodged before the Poochyena had a chance to attack. As soon as Pikoo had dodged the attack she used thunder wave, and released an electrical charge in the direction of the grunt's Poochyena. Poochyena was hit by the electrical charge, and was immediately paralyzed. The grunt's Poochyena was visibly slower, and that gave Pikoo an advantage. Pikoo could now easily dodge Poochyena's bites and tackles with ease.

"Pikoo, use thundershock!" Lily cried. Pikoo sent a jolt of lightning towards the grunt's Poochyena. Poochyena couldn't move due to his paralysis, so he was hit dead-on. This was looking like an easy win for Lily, and she knew it.

"Keep it up!" Pikoo kept her thundershock going, and the Team Magma grunt seemed to be getting angrier.

"Bite!" The Team Magma grunt roared. This time he actually hit Pikoo, and she took a lot of damage. Lily looked worried, but the grunt had a satisfied look on his face.

"Ha!" He barked. "How do you expect to stop Team Magma when you can't even defeat me. A grunt!" He started laughing, and then did not notice Pikoo rushing towards his Poochyena. When he finally did see what was happening it was too late.

"Dodge!" He yelled, but it was no use. Pikoo grabbed onto the Poochyena, and unleashed her strongest thundershock yet. Poochyena stood no chance, and fainted. The Team Magma grunt could see he was defeated, so he recalled his Pokemon and fled towards the direction of Rustboro.

"Should it worry us that both Team Aqua and Magma both now hate us, and are both most likely in Rustboro City?" Nicole asked. She was ignored though, because Lily rushed towards the cashier asking for her PokeBlock case and berries and knocked Will over in the process.

"Thank you!" The group said as they left the berry store with Lily's new PokeBlock case in hand.

* * *

The group was not walking for long before they reached yet another stop. They could now see the huge skyscraper that was Devon Corp, the entrance gate to Rustboro City, and a large dome that was definitely the Rustboro Contest Hall. The only thing standing in between Lily and her first contest (besides 2 more day of waiting) was a long bridge across a lake that lead towards Rustboro City. Standing at the foot of the lake was a familiar face talking to 2 young girls.

"Wally!" Lily yelled, excited to see her friend again. Wally turned around, and started smiling when he saw his friends run towards him.

"How have you all been?" asked Wally.

"Great! Except for the fact that we pissed off 2 groups of criminals." Will said. Wally looked surprised and was about to ask what he meant, but then thought better of it. He figured they were kidding.

"I need someone's help. To get past this bridge we have to beat these 2 girls in a double battle. As long as 2 of us win we will all be able to cross into Rustboro City." Wally explained. Will immediately volunteered, and the battle began soon afterwards.

"This battle will be between the team of Hannah and Minny vs. the team of Wally and Will. When both of the Pokemon on one team faints the battle is over." Lily explained. The battlers then released their Pokemon in a blinding flash of red light that illuminated the bridge.

"Go Ralts!"  
"Go Pyro!"

"Go Seedot!"

"Go Lotad!"

The 4 Pokemon appeared upon the bridge looking prepared to battle. Pyro was scratching at the ground as if prepared to run, and Ralts was teleporting around, excited to fight. Seedot was pacing around his trainer while Lotad was glaring in the direction of Will and Wally.

"He doesn't seem very nice does he?" Lily muttered to Nicole. Nicole giggled a little, but no one heard her because Will started the battle.

"Use ember!"

"Use bide." said Hannah, Seedot's trainer. Pyro shot a barrage of fireballs towards Lotad and Seedot. Lotad dodged by jumping in the lake, but Seedot was hit with the full force. Hannah did not look upset at her Pokemon being attacked, but rather seemed glad. Will didn't understand this, but he told Pyro to continue his attack without letting up.

"Will stop!" Wally cried. He, unlike Will, understood what bide did, and knew the more damage Seedot took, the more he could deal upon Ralts and Pyro. Pyro did not stop in time though, and Seedot struck at Pyro dealing twice the amount of damage that he took.

"Pyro!" Will cried, concerned about his partner. While he did take a lot of damage from the hit, Pyro was not ready to give up the battle yet. He rushed towards Lotad this time, and unleashed a storm of fireballs. Lotad did not have time to dodge, and was hit by ember. Ralts used confusion on Seedot. Seedot was lifted into the air, and was thrown onto Lotad. Lotad crashed into the water, and only too late did Wally see the problem.

"Lotad! Use water gun." Minny said. Lotad used water gun while sitting in the water far enough away that he could not be hit. Ralts was hit by the water gun and was knocked into Pyro. Seedot use nature power, and it turned into swift. Swift knocked both Pokemon over, and into the water.

"Will! We have to rethink our strategy before we lose!" Wally told Will. Will agreed quickly, and they came up with a quick battle plan.

"Ralts use Confusion!"

"Pyro show them your ember!"

Ralts used confusion, and held his targets in the air. Lotad and Seedot had no chance of escaping. Pyro ran towards the suspended Pokemon, and unleashed a firey barrage of embers. Seedot was instantly defeated by the super-effective hit. Lotad, though, was able to continue battling, and glared at Pyro before using water gun. Pyro dodged the attack, and ran faster than Will had ever seen him run at Lotad. He started scratching Lotad, and showed no sign of stopping. Eventually Lotad was not able to continue battling, and he fainted.

Hannah and Minny sadly recalled their Pokemon, and let the group of 4 onto the bridge. Lily eagerly led the charge across the bridge hoping to arrive at the contest hall soon. Will, Wally, and Nicole were not far behind her, but she clearly was ahead. After a few minutes of running Lily arrived at her destination. She had finally made it to her first contest hall. It was exactly as she imagined it. Maybe even better. It was a building with white walls, a pink roof, and a large sign on top showing the Rustboro Ribbon. Seeing the ribbon lit a spark inside of Lily that made her desire to win grow even more. Nothing could ruin this sight.

When the rest of the group finally arrived, Lily felt like she had been forced to wait for hours. In reality it had been only a few minutes, but she was too excited to care.

"Come on! Let's go inside already." Lily cried. Before anyone had the chance to enter, someone came out of the Rustboro Contest Hall. A blonde boy with a black jacket walked towards Lily with a Riolu and Treecko behind him.

"What took you so long Lily?"

**AN**

**I'm sorry about the wait. I'm quite a lazy person. Anyways I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and please review.**

**Warrior of Hope**


	7. Appeals

**Author's Note**

**I'm sorry if the beginning of this chapter seems slow-paced. I needed certain events to happen for later chapters. The second half of the chapter should have more action.**

**I'm sorry if there are any grammatical errors. I tried to finish this late at night, but I unfortunately didn't so the middle part of the story may seem weird. If there is something wrong please tell me.**

**Will's Team**

**Torchic (Pyro)-Lv. 16**

**Attacks- Scratch, Growl, Ember, Peck**

**Poochyena (Pup)- Lv. 13**

**Attacks- Tackle, Howl, Sand Attack, Bite**

**Shroomish (Shroom)-Lv. 8**

**Attacks- Tackle, Stun Spore, Absorb**

**Lily's Team**

**Pichu (Pikoo)- Lv. 15**

**Attacks- Thundershock, Charm, Sweet Kiss, Thunder Wave**

**Mudkip (Kip)-Lv. 13**

**Attacks- Tackle, Growl, Mud Slap, Water Gun**

**Silcoon (Melody)-Lv. 13**

**Attacks- Bug Bite, String Shot, Tackle, Poison Sting**

**Nicole's Team**

**Bagon (Meteor)- Lv. 14**

**Attacks- Headbutt, Bite, Leer**

**Marill (Zuzu)- Lv. 12**

**Attacks- Tackle, Water Gun, Defense Curl, Rollout**

* * *

**Appeals**

When Lily saw Nick she ran towards him immediately. She wasn't paying attention to her surroundings, though, so she ran into a guy with brown and hazel eyes. He looked to be about Lily's age.

"What was that for? Can't you walk without bumping into people?" Sneered the brown haired boy. Nick, who ran over when he saw Lily ran into him, told the boy to calm down.

"It was an accident, Jeff. She simply was not paying attention. It happens to everyone." Nick explained to the boy, apparently named Jeff. Jeff was wearing blue jeans, a red shirt, and a pair of white shoes. Jeff seemed to visibly calm down after hearing it was an accident, and stuck out his hand in a greeting.

"My name is Jeff Hawks. I'm sorry for getting angry. I thought you ran into me on purpose. What's your name?" Jeff asked Lily. Lily, pleased Jeff was no longer angry with her, shook his hand, and introduced herself.

"I'm Lily Davis. This will be my first contest." Lily said as she greeted him. He seemed pleased that she was a coordinator.

"I'm a coordinator, too. I actually already have a ribbon. Check it out." Jeff said as he pulled out his ribbon case. He showed her the ribbon that was inside. It was white with light blue stripes on the ends.

"Wow!" Lily exclaimed. "That looks great! Where did you win this?"

"In the Petalburg Contest. It was held a few weeks ago." Jeff explained. Jeff and Lily continued talking about the Petalburg Contest while Nick stood behind them being ignored.

While this conversation was happening, Will and Nicole walked towards the Rustboro Contest Hall after Wally left. Will noticed Nick standing behind Lily and another guy looking angry.

'Is Lily ignoring Nick?' WIll thought. 'That doesn't make much sense she ran ahead of us to go talk to him.' Nick seemed to be thinking along the same lines, and after greeting Will and Nicole, said he was going to go train for the upcoming contest. Without even looking at him, Lily said goodbye. When Nick walked by Will and Nicole, Will noticed a look of hurt in his eyes.

'I will talk to him later.' Will thought. Lily introduced Will and Nicole to Jeff.

"It's a pleasure to meet you both, Will and Nicole." Jeff greeted. Will returned his greeting, but Nicole seemed unsure.

"It's nice meeting you, too." Nicole said with a small grimace on her face as she said it. Only Will seemed to notice the small grimace before it was replaced with a smile, because Lily and Jeff were talking about the upcoming Rustboro Contest.

'Hmm..I'm pretty observant today.' Will mused to himself. 'I should probably talk to her, too.' Nicole seemed to guess what he was thinking about, and sent him a look that clearly said, _Drop it. _

"So are either of you coordinators? Or are you here to challenge Roxanne, the Rustboro City Gym Leader?" Jeff asked Will and Nicole. Both shook their heads.

"No. I'm not a coordinator. I'm here to battle the gym leader, Roxanne." Will answered.

"Neither am I. I have only recently decided what I want to do on my adventure. I, like Will, am going to challenge the Pokemon League!" Nicole announced. Lily smiled, happy her friend decided what she wanted to do, but quickly continued talking to Jeff.

"Well it was nice meeting you all, but I have to go practice for the contest. I hope you do well Lily." Jeff said as he left.

"We should go rent a room at the Pokemon Center. We can come back later to register Lily in the contest." Nicole said. Will, Nicole, and Lily then headed towards the Pokemon Center.

* * *

After they rented a room at the Pokemon Center Lily and Nicole walked back towards the Contest Hall to register Lily in the contest. Will stayed behind, because he wanted to train with his newest Pokemon, Shroom.

Will walked towards the practice battlefield behind the Pokemon Center, and saw Nick standing in the center of the field training with his Treecko, Leif. He still looked hurt, but Will could not think of why.

"Hey Nick." Will greeted. Nick looked up towards Will, and simply nodded in recognition

"What's wrong Nick? You looked hurt earlier, and still do as a matter of fact." Will asked, not bothering with subtlety. Nick looked up at Will, seemed to think for a few seconds, then walked towards one end of the practice field with Leif right behind him.

"If you can beat Leif and I in a battle we will talk." Nick answered. Will, excited at getting to battle Nick, ran to the other side of the practice field. Since Will originally planned to train Shroom, he decided to let him battle. Will released Shroom from his Pokeball in a flash of red light.

"Time to fight, Shroom!" Will announced as the small mushroom Pokemon was released from his Pokeball.

"You can start whenever you are ready Will." Nick calmly said. Will thought for a moment before ordering an attack.

"Stun Spore!" Will ordered. Shroom released a stun spore towards Leif, but he dodged before the stun spore came close. Leif countered with absorb, and hit Shroom. It was barely effective, so Shroom did not take too much damage.

"Pound!"

"Tackle!"

Both attacks were called at the same time, so both Pokemon rushed towards the other to attack. Leif hit Shroom with with his tail as Shroom rammed into Leif. Both Pokemon were hit, and moved back to avoid being hit again.

"Quick Attack!" Nick ordered. Leif lunged towards Shroom so fast that he seemed to become invisible. He reappeared right in front of Shroom, and pushed him ten feet back. Before Shroom could react, Leif hit him with another pound attack. Will thought of a new strategy faster than he ever thought possible, and believed it could work.

"Use stun spore again! But this time jump towards Leif, and spin." Will said. Shroom lunged towards Leif, farther than Will thought his small feet could jump, and released his stun spore. He started spinning, and released his stun spore around the area. Leif had no chance of dodging, and was instantly paralyzed. If this worried Nick it didn't show on his face, but to Will's surprise, the look of hurt that had momentarily disappeared during the battle reappeared. Will looked around to see why it appeared, and noticed Lily, Jeff, and Nicole walk towards the battle. Lily and Jeff were talking about what Will guessed was the contest again, and Lily did not even acknowledge Nick.

"Could we finish this battle another time? I will even count it as a win for you." Nick pleaded. Will saw that he was desperate to try and leave, and agreed. Nick left, but only Nicole and Will seemed to notice. Nicole looked with sympathy at Nick, but Will could not understand why she did. It must have been obvious he was wondering though, because Nicole looked at him like he was insane.

"Boys…" Nicole muttered. Will and Nicole walked back towards the Pokemon Center, and Nicole was muttering quietly about something Will could not hear.

"What's wrong?" Will asked his friend. She looked at him in shock.

"Have you not noticed what is going on between Jeff, Lily, and Nick?" Nicole asked. Will shook his head, and Will heard her start to grumble about the idiocy of boys. This lasted until they were inside the Pokemon Center.

* * *

The next morning marked the beginning of the Rustboro Contest, and Lily was starting to feel nervous. Questions like, "What if I mess up?", "Do you think I have a chance at winning?", and (What Will found amusing) "Why does my hair keep getting messed up?" were being asked every few seconds. Will found this funny, because Pikoo continually sent small bits of electricity towards her that made her stand on end. Eventually she calmed down, and finished preparing. She had bought seals with Jeff the day before, and had a few bubble seals on Kip's Pokeball.

The group walked back towards the Contest Hall then split up. Will and Nicole walked towards the seats, and Lily towards the dressing room. After another half an hour, Vivian Meridian took the stage, and began to announce that the contest has begun and that the coordinators will be called out to make their appeals.

Vivian called out several names before Lily appeared for her appeal. She walked out onto the stage, and released Kip. As he appeared small bubbles started floating around him.

"Take the stage, Kip." Lily announced. Kip shot a water gun, and the bubbles all popped leaving small sparkles around him.

"Ok Kip! Shoot these frisbees!" Lily cried. She threw frisbees into the air, and Kip began to use mud slap to knock them down. He started well, but on the last frisbee Kip missed his shot. Lily didn't let this get to her, though. She simply started the next part of the appeal.

"Ok Kip. Let's finish the appeal with a picture!" Kip began to use mud slap around the stage. He made a large circle with small fins on the side. When he started making the fin on top it was clear to the audience that he was making a Mudkip. When he finished with the rest of his drawing, Kip moved aside showing his picture of a Mudkip's head. The crowd loved it, and cheered.

The judges stood up, preparing to give the results of Lily's first appeal.

"This was an overall good appeal, but we can't overlook Kip missing the last frisbee." Mr. Contesta said. He gave Lily a 6.

"Remarkable!" Mr. Sukizo said. He gave Lily an 8.

"This was a great show of your friendship with your Pokemon. I give you an 8." Nurse Joy said. Lily got 22 points!

After receiving her score, Lily walked back towards the waiting room. The next few appeals were uneventful for Will and Nicole. When the names got to the H's, though, Jeff walked out.

"Next up is Jeff Hawks!" Vivian announced. Jeff walked towards the center of the stage, and released his Pokemon.

"Go Hades!" Jeff announced. A Houndoor appeared on the field with small skulls and flames around him from the Pokeball seal. He growled, and the flames and skulls disappeared.

"Start with smog!" Hades released a discharge of gases towards the stage.

"Now use fire spin!" Jeff ordered. Hades created a vortex of flame, and aimed it at the smog. The smog and fire made a small explosion in the air, and Hades jumped through it.

"What a display of power!" Vivian stated in awe.

"Use fire spin again!" Hades sent out a few rings of fire then proceeded to jump through them like they were hoops. He ran back to Jeff, and Jeff bowed.

"What a great performance!" Mr. Contesta said. "That was one of the best I have seen all day!" He gave Jeff a 9.

"Simply Remarkable!" Mr. Sukizo also gave Jeff a 9.

"That showed the true power of your Pokemon. Great job!" Nurse Joy said. She, too gave him a 9.

'27! Wow he definitely is good.' Will thought. The rest of the contest went by mostly uneventful. The score were usually 20 or below except for a one person who got a 25.

"Our final contestant today is Nick Parker!" Vivian announced. He calmly walked out towards the stage with Sirius right behind him. He walked towards the center of the stage then smiled.

"Let's start this out right, Sirius!" Nick threw multiple frisbees around the stage. "Bullet punch!" Sirius struck each of the frisbees with the speed of a moving bullet. All of the frisbees were instantly destroyed by the powerful punches. Next Nick threw more frisbees, but this time he threw them at Sirius.

"What power! What speed!" Vivian remarked in awe.

"Detect!" Sirius seemed to move just before each frisbee hit him. It was like everything moved in slow motion around him. He sidestepped, jumped, ducked, and for the last frisbee he jumped on it, and landed next to Nick. Both Pokemon and trainer took a bow, and waited for their score.

"That was a great performance. Last is most certainly best!" Mr. Contesta said. He gave Nick a 9!

"Absolutely remarkable!" Mr. Sukizo also gave him a 10.

"That showed off Sirius's speed, power, and agility. I loved your performance." Nurse Joy said while smiling. She also gave him a 10.

"Wow! A 29! That is the highest score of today's contest!" Vivian said. Nick smiled, thanked the judge, then he walked off the stage.

"Let's give a final round of applause to all the contestants!" Vivian said. After the deafening roar of applause. She showed the eight contestants moving on to the battle round.

"Yes!" Nicole said. "Lily made it! And so did Nick!"

"So did Jeff!" Will said. Nicole gave him a small glare, but then continued clapping.

"Tomorrow will be the battle rounds. I hope you all come back here then to see all of the great battles!" Vivian said.

**AN**

**Thanks to everyone who has reviewed my story so far! I really appreciate it! :D**

**I have a new poll on my profile. Please check it out.**

**Warrior of Hope**


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